Ten days ago Stephanie Bottrill sat in the redbrick terrace
house which had been home for 18 years to write notes to her loved ones,
the Sunday People reports .
She ripped the pages from a spiral-bound notebook and placed them neatly in little brown envelopes.
There
was one for her son. Another for her daughter. Her mother. Friends. And
a very special one for the year-old grandson she doted on.
Then
in the early hours of last Saturday Stephanie, 53, left her home for the
last time, leaving her cat Joey behind as the front-door clicked shut.
She
crossed her road in Meriden Drive, Solihull, to drop one of her letters
and her house keys through a neighbour’s letterbox. Then she walked 15
minutes through the sleeping estate to Junction 4 of the M6.
And
at 6.15am she walked straight into the path of a northbound lorry and
was killed instantly. Stephanie Bottrill had become the first known
suicide victim of the hated Bedroom Tax.
In
the letter to her son, Steven, 27, she had written: “Don’t blame
yourself for me ending my life. The only people to blame are the
Government.”
Stephanie was tormented over having to find £20 a week to pay for the two under-occupied bedrooms she had been assessed for.
Days before her death she told neighbours: “I can’t afford to live any more.”
Solihull
council Labour group leader David Jamieson, who knows the family well,
said: “I’m absolutely appalled this poor lady has taken her own life
because she was worried how she would pay the Bedroom Tax.
“I hope the Government will take notice and reconsider this policy.” Steven Bottrill
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The police came to Steven’s door at 9.30 last Saturday
morning. They were there with his sister Laura, 23, and he knew
something terrible had happened. They told him his mum had taken her own
life.
He said: “It was a shock at first. You just ask why? The
policeman told me she had left notes. I was on my own, looking after my
little boy.
“I just wanted to keep looking after him, to keep it
all in. I told the police to keep the note. I was still getting my head
round it.”
So it was not until Sunday that Steven was ready to read the note.
He
said: “I couldn’t believe it. She said not to blame ourselves, it was
the Government and what they were doing that caused her to do it.
“She was fine before this Bedroom Tax. It was dreamt up in London, by people in offices and big houses.
“They have no idea the effect it has on people like my mum.”
On
the Thursday before she died – when she wrote the farewell letters –
Stephanie had phoned her son to say she was struggling to cope.
He promised to get help and next day phoned her GP.
Stephanie came home from the GP’s surgery with sleeping tablets.
That
Friday teatime, Steven came to see her after he finished work. He tried
to reassure her, telling her everything would be OK. He says now he
should have hugged her but he thought it might upset her. Stephanie Bottrill Bedroom tax death story. Copy of letter left to son Steven Bottrill.
Page One Photography
On the way home he resolved to take her to A&E next day and stay there until she got the help she needed.
That evening a neighbour took Stephanie some dinner. Like Steven, she thought Stephanie would cope. But neither saw her again.
In the early hours of Saturday, Stephanie headed downstairs, past boxes of her things packed up and ready to go.
Boxes
marked “kitchen” and “bedroom”. Stephanie had nowhere to go. But she
had packed anyway so when the council found her a smaller place she
would be prepared.
Steven said: “She didn’t want to go but she knew she had to. She couldn’t afford to stay. It was too hard.
“She wasn’t eating properly. There wasn’t any proper food. There were about 30 tins of custard.”
Stephanie had lived in her £320-a-month home for 18 years, but couldn’t cope with the extra £80 she had to find every month.
She needed to downsize but nothing suitable was offered to her.
And she was upset she would have to leave the home in which she raised her two children as a single mother.
The
well-kept back garden was Stephanie’s pride and joy. She had buried her
favourite pet cats there and she liked to sit out there in the sun and
remember them.
Steven remembers they didn’t have much as they grew
up. His mum would struggle to afford clothes and food but they were
happy and always well-turned out.
As a child Stephanie was diagnosed with the auto-immune system deficiency, Myasthenia gravis. The M6 motorway in Birmingham where Stephanie commited suicide
Page One Photography
The illness made her weak and she had to take constant medication.
Steven said she wanted to work, but there was no way she could.
Doctors
had told her she was too ill to hold down a job, but she had never been
registered as disabled, so she lived without disability benefit. After
splitting with the children’s father, Stephanie raised Laura and Steven
on her own.
Steven, an HGV driver, said: “Even though it was difficult for Mum bringing us up on her own, we were really happy here.”
Eventually, Steven left to set up in his own place with his own family.
It was close enough to visit his mum and he came round whenever he could.
Then
two months ago Laura also moved out and into a flat with her long-term
partner. It happened quickly and Stephanie struggled at first.
It
also meant that instead of losing 14 per cent of her housing benefit for
one spare bedroom she would now lose 25 per cent for two rooms.
But friends and family rallied round and she began to adjust on her own.
She took the decision to tell the council she was living in a three-bedroomed house on her own.
The £80 per month extra she would have to pay was too much for her. She would have to leave her home.
Steven
said: “She was sad about Laura going but she had got over that and was
coping. Being asked for the extra Bedroom Tax money was just too much
for her.”
Stephanie told her next-door neighbour Tracey Hurley: “I cannot afford to live any more.” Steven Bottrill
Page One Photography
She was visited by officials, who told her she would be charged for any repairs to her property.
That
would whittle away the £2,000 she had been offered by the council to
move home. It meant Stephanie had to strip wallpaper and lift carpets
herself. She also had to mend her back fence.
And they failed to
find a suitable property for her – the bungalow they offered was a
30-minute walk from a bus stop and miles from her family and friends.
So Stephanie was trapped in a house she couldn’t afford.
And neighbours did their best to help as she faced losing her home.
Neighbour Tracey, 49, said: “Her garden meant so much to her.
“She called it her special place and the one place she felt at peace.
“But
they were going to take that from her. She just couldn’t stand it.”
Tracey did her best to care for her friend and saw her on the Friday
before she died. She said: “Stephanie hadn’t eaten for three days. She
was desperate.
“We were having a barbecue and she popped her head
over the fence to say hello. She didn’t want to socialise so I took her
some dinner.
“When I went round I hugged her and told her to just come and knock on the door if she needed me.
“I
told her not to do anything stupid. The council would have to help her.
She asked me for another hug. Then in the morning the police came. I
couldn’t believe it.”
Other neighbours on the estate are being hit with the Bedroom Tax.
Tracey said: “They are making me pay it and it’s going to be tough but people don’t have any choice.
“This is not just politics, this is people’s lives.”
Next Friday, Tracey will be among friends and family at the funeral.
The family were struggling to pay so the Sunday People has made a contribution.
Stephanie’s death didn’t make headlines locally. But her friends know exactly what happened to her.
And they believe the shock of her death will be felt far outside her community.
Tracey
added: “There’s no way Stephanie is going to be the last to die because
of this Bedroom Tax. She’s not going to be the only one.”
If you're affected by this issue, you can contact the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 or visit Samaritans.org
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